Water Problems Rile ELS Park Residents in Florida

July 29, 2011 by Justin Leighty
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Click here to watch a video, courtesy of WZVN-TV, Fort Myers, Fla., about the following story.

Residents in one Charlotte County neighborhood are furious over flooding. Whenever it rains, they’re left with thousands of dollars worth of repairs – and the answers to their water woes are out of their control.

When most people were praying for rain, residents of the Tropical Palms community were doing the exact opposite.

“I dread it when it rains like that. I just dread it,” said resident Donna Spafford.

Spafford dreads it because when it rains, the streets in her community flood.

“Every time it rains I am stressed out because if it rains too hard we’re going to have to try to pump out water from our lanai, it’s under our home. It smells,” said Spafford.

“We have mosquito problems. We’ve had moccasin problems because the water just runs like a river down the street,” said Linda Taylor.

Residents say that rain water is supposed to go to a retention pond with the help of a pumping system.

“Our retention pond is so full, if it rains tomorrow it could not take another drop,” said Taylor.

Residents say they’ve contacted the owners of the mobile home park. They even signed a petition last year, but got nowhere.

We tried contacting Equity Lifestyle Properties that owns the park and so far we haven’t gotten any answers either.

The county says since the problems are on private property, they’re unable to help. The owners are responsible.

“They had promised us that they would have something done before rainy season,” said Taylor.

Rainy season is here and there has been no fix.

Residents say its hurting their homes and their wallets.

“We’re having to replace our air conditioners, our duct work,” said Taylor.

Residents say it has been almost a week since the last downpour and they still have rainwater because it has nowhere to go.

“Everyone here pays their rent and they pay it on time and that’s what we get for being good residents. Ignored,” said Spafford.